Stuff we throw in,
comes around; that which is sucked out is most likely
gone."

Michael Linton: "... I--who with others 'coined' the LETSystem word to express the ideas of
consent, collaboration, invitation, possibility--regret the extent to
which others restrict their understanding to the local. Certainly, local
is good, local is essential, and local will happen--but let's not lose
sight of the bigger pictures....

I don't just care about local people - I also care about my childrens'
childrens' children (none yet born), and about trees, who don't seem to
give a damn about me, and about international and inter-community harmony.
I care about the weather.

The essence of a LETSystem is that it tends to generate positive social
behaviours amongst its users. If makes it possible for us to deal
equitably with all sorts of people. In my own little world and system,
there are plenty of people that I don't "care" about, nor want to care
about. I wouldn't trust them for a second in a situation where they might
rip me off--and I don't have to.

You don't have to care - it is only necessary that we ACT AS THOUGH we do,
and that's the behaviour that a mutual credit system develops in its users.
So act now, then you will be able to care as much as you choose, later,
if you like.

with the help of new communications technologies, have discovered that

by circumventing the scarcity of money (information), they can conserve local resources, encourage employment, and build social ties.

Open societies and markets will thrive when we harness today's collaborative technologies to encourage fuller social, economic, and political participation."

from Emily Hoyer's Oct. '96 letter in the SF Bay Guardian:

"How, and to what extent, can local and virtual communities create and bind policies for their participants?

How can interactive technologies enhance social and economic transactions?

Can self-regulating ('free') markets reflect in their 'prices' ecological value based on real scarcities and abundances in the long-term?

I don't have any answers, but I am encouraged by some community projects I've heard about recently, particularly the experimental currencies some cities and 'virtual communities' have developed to match up excess supply with unmet demands.

These communities, without relying on interest-bearing national currencies or inflating their own currencies, have helped participants exchange their skills and products in the marketplace.

and watched unemployment yield to "favor economies" or "remunerated leisure" while social ties grow stronger.

When our money (information) system measures all our exchanges without losing value (meaning), more people will be able to
choose a niche and contribute to their communities--making all of us
better off.

Everyone will be able to document or verify a transaction, and to negotiate
payments as they please;

more work will get done;

and quality of life will improve.

Just as our money should be able to measure unlimited exchanges,
our policymaking tools should be able to handle an unlimited number of good ideas at
once--and they should also help policymakers efficiently evaluate and execute those
ideas.

Imagine your elected officials immersing themselves in a public online forum where
they can report on their activities and respond immediately to their constituents.

Here in San Francisco, Mayor Willie Brown entered just such a
forum in October of 1996, and in the course of just one hour was met with abundant
praise, questions, criticism, and policy suggestions.

There's no reason all officials
couldn't draw on this kind of resource every day.

We're inspired by these successes, and offer our space as another community-building
"medium of exchange". We hope it generates some ripples of value throughout the
entire community.

"As we investigate the future of money,
information, work, technology, and education, we consciously balance 'solid'
information with 'fluid' mobility and access, and a few relationships
become apparent:

'Money is information about the
way we exchange energy' (Bernard Lietaer).

The web conducts information and
conserves energy.

Technology focuses energy according to information.

By attending to elements (people and resources) and forces (energy, money,
information) in our communities, we can free up
potential energies in ourselves, our money systems, and our technological tools."